The House voted Tuesday to curb the law enforcement practice of seizing cash and property from people who are suspected of illegal activity but who have not necessarily been charged.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers pushed an amendment to a government-spending package for 2018 that would prohibit the Trump administration from using funds to remove restrictions on the use of asset forfeiture. The practice allows law enforcement to seize cash and property and keep at least part of the proceeds.

Their amendment would specifically restrict the use of what's known as "adoptive forfeiture," which allows the federal government to take assets seized by local authorities.

Critics say that the practice has allowed local authorities to circumvent state laws that were stricter than under federal statute. About two dozen states have laws that make it harder for authorities to seize property if a person has not been convicted of a crime.

Sessions' new policy is a menace to federalism as well as property rights. Many states have enacted reforms preventing law enforcement agencies from profiting from asset forfeitures, thereby reducing incentives to seize the property of people who have not been convicted of any crimes. Equitable sharing circumvents these state laws, by enabling police to profit from seizures through payments funneled through the federal government. As a result, law enforcement agencies will have incentives to prioritize drug cases that are likely to net them money over violent crime and other objectives that state governments might value more.

This vote is a rare show of bipartisan, cross-ideological unity in a good cause. But it remains to be seen whether it will will pass the Senate. In addition, because this is a defunding measure rather than an outright ban on equitable sharing, it might potentially be possible for the Justice Department to try to perpetuate equitable sharing in ways that technically don't expend federal funds. For example, perhaps participating states will pony up funding to continue the program. Ideally, Congress should forestall such shenanigans by simply banning equitable sharing and other abusive asset forfeiture practices outright. That said, this vote is definitely a step in the right direction, and a sign that respect for federalism and property rights is not completely dead in Congress.

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